


Time Enough, But None to Spare

by Marks



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Blue Lily Lily Blue Spoilers, Dream Kissing, F/M, Kissing, Magical Realism, Minor Character Death, Teenage Rebellion, Time Travel, Yuletide, Yuletide Treat, implied Adam/Ronan, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2814230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marks/pseuds/Marks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blue learns what comes around, goes around and then goes around again and again. Spoilers for <i>Blue Lily, Lily Blue</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Enough, But None to Spare

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thenewradical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewradical/gifts).



> A treat! A really long got out of hand treat! I saw in your DYW letter that you loved Blue/Gansey and the strong relationships between all the main characters after reading _Blue Lily, Lily Blue_ , and I ran with that. And ran, and ran. Anyway, I hope you like this.

Everyone was somber and tense as they sat around the kitchen table at 300 Fox Way. The next time she saw them, Blue was going to kill Adam and Ronan, who'd left as soon as they could. They were nice enough to come back to the house with everyone, once they'd confirmed that Blue and her mother (and her father, as a bonus) were still alive, but they didn't stick around after that. Normally, Blue would be sensible, realizing that they'd both had one hell of a bad day, and that what was happening here was primarily family business, but Blue'd also had a bad day and now she just felt petty and outnumbered by adults.

Gansey had stayed, but Gansey was basically an adult, so she wasn't even sure that he counted. A young-looking adult who couldn't vote yet, but still an old man in a teenage boy's body.

Maura sat awkwardly between Mr. Gray and Artemus, looking small and dusty. Gansey sat next to Blue, Blue startlingly aware of the way her upper arm pressed all along the length of his. Gwenllian was singing Greensleeves on loop and batting the back of Artemus's head every time she made a full circle around the kitchen. After the fourth loop, she got bored and floated away, plunging the room into silence. And Calla glared at Maura from across the table.

"You missed a lot," Calla said finally.

"I know," Maura said. Blue had just told her about Persephone.

"You're really stupid," Calla said.

Mr. Gray looked like he wanted to protest that, but Maura put a hand on his arm. "I know," Maura said.

"Okay," Calla said. "I'm glad you're alive, Maura. Not as glad to see Butternut, but what can you do?"

"Charmed as always, Calla," Artemus said. Blue couldn't get over his strange accent, or the fact that he was her father and he was sitting in her kitchen. Then there was also the thing where he was about 600 years old, and he wasn't even the only 600-year-old staying her house. If he was staying in her house. Was he staying in her house? And now that Maura was back, was Mr. Gray staying in her house now, too? Blue didn't know what to make of any of this.

Calla rose from the table. "I'd love to stay and catch up, but as the only person who ever does anything around here, I have to go and plan the funeral of our best friend."

Maura winced. Blue winced, too, even though that anger wasn't directed at her. But Calla's anger was like a hurricane on a warm August afternoon; just because you'd taken precautions didn't mean you wouldn't get swept up in its path. Calla left the room, and some of the tension whooshed out behind her.

"So," Gansey began, even though this wasn't Gansey's house or Gansey's family. Blue reached out and squeezed his hand.

"It's okay," she told him. "Mom, I'm relieved and I'm very very angry."

"That's fair," Maura said.

"I feel like I should be able to ground you, only you've never grounded me so I have no role model for how that works. So I guess for now, I'm just going to say that I love you and then I'm going to leave."

"That's also fair," Maura said.

Blue stood up and turned to leave the room, Gansey following a beat behind her.

"Wait a moment, Blue."

Blue spun around. It was Artemus – her father – calling her back.

"I'm glad we've finally met," Artemus said. Blue wished that she could honestly say the same. "I know the circumstances weren't ideal, but perhaps we can get to know one another." 

Blue didn't want to deal with this right now. "Perhaps," she replied shortly, spinning on her heel and leaving quickly. She could hear Gansey politely wishing everyone a good night as she walked away. Blue rolled her eyes and wished he could just turn that part of him off for a while. She knew better, of course, but it didn't hurt to want it.

Gansey caught up with her and gently touched her wrist. "Are you okay?" he asked, knowing the answer.

Blue shook her head anyway, and buried her face in Gansey's chest before she could think about it. He still had that mossy forest smell that always clung to Cabeswater, and he hesitated for just a moment before wrapping his arms around her. The whole effect was very soothing; Malory was right about Gansey's aura. She allowed herself a count of ten before gathering herself together and pulling away.

"It's getting late," Blue said.

"Did you want me to stay?"

Blue laughed at that. "Yeah, I'll just sneak you upstairs past the four-hundred people who line my hallways daily, including an angry Calla figuring out funeral arrangements. There's no way that plan can fail."

"No, really," Gansey said earnestly. "I'll leave through the front door and park the Pig a few streets away, then I'll come back, shimmy up the tree nearest your bedroom window, and you can let me in. Voilà, I stay with no tripping over your family whatsoever. It's the perfect plan."

It was not the perfect plan. First, Blue was having a really hard time picturing Gansey shimmying up anything. Second, even if he did secretly harbor exquisite tree-scaling skills, there was the problem of Gansey and Blue being alone in her bedroom. It was hard enough to resist him on an average day, let alone after everything with Persephone and Jesse Dittley and her parents and Piper Greenmantle and the mirror lake and the animal skeletons and– anyway, the list was long. Roll that up with privacy, Blue's vulnerability, and the ache and promise of an entire night, and they were just asking for trouble. Well, even more than usual. And Blue, damn it, was a sensible girl.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Blue said. It was really hard to say. She pressed her palm flat against his chest, allowing herself that at least. Gansey rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip, paused, then reached out and did the same to hers.

It was his way of saying good night, but it wasn't enough.

"I'll walk you out," Blue said.

"Okay. See you tomorrow," Gansey said. "Take care of yourself."

After Gansey left, Blue went and found Calla. She was sitting at the little desk where she usually paid the bills and balanced the books. Calla looked studious enough, hunched over a ledger and wearing the little reading glasses she'd bought at the drugstore for $5.99, but when Blue peered over her shoulder, she was just doodling in the margins. Soft things, too, things that didn't seem like Calla but seemed very much like Persephone: flowers and birds and stars. A wet splotch fell right on top of a particularly pretty sketch of a bluebird, blurring the ink.

This was all way, way too sad for Blue. She leaned over and gave Calla a hug. Calla didn't startle, so she must have known Blue was there, which meant she was crying with the full knowledge that there were witnesses present. Blue honestly didn't know what to do with this information.

Calla let out a great big sigh and straightened up in her chair. "We'll be okay," she told Blue. 

But Blue wasn't too sure.

*

The next week passed in a blur, but since Blue overscheduled herself on purpose, that wasn't much of a surprise. Some of what she was doing was her normal routine, then there were the tiring one-time things like Jesse Dittley's funeral and Persephone's memorial service, then the not so tiring one-time things like dropping Malory off at the airport. But a lot of it was good old-fashioned avoidance. Her mother wanted to pretend like things were normal and she hadn't just disappeared underground for months, which would have been bad enough on its own, but now there was also her father to deal with.

It was totally possible that Blue wasn't being fair to him. After all, Maura had told her the specifics of his disappearance after she was born, and she knew it wasn't for the typical reasons fathers sometimes disappear right after babies are born. But on the other hand, Gwenllian had also told her that Artemus was the one who'd put her to sleep, and that had been in the 15th century, so whatever caused him to show up in the late 20th century just in time for her conception might have been his doing and might have been on purpose. There were just too many unanswered questions, so Blue opted to avoid, avoid, avoid.

"You can't ignore us forever," Maura said one morning as Blue dug through the refrigerator looking for a plain yogurt and coming up empty-handed. Orla had probably used the last one for a face mask. 

"I'm not ignoring you," Blue lied. She settled on the kind with strawberry at the bottom, even though she wouldn't see Gansey for another nine hours, so the fruit slime would go to waste. "I'm getting ready to leave for school. Remember school? The thing I'm graduating from in the spring?"

"Never heard of it," Maura said glumly as Blue breezed past her. The look on her face was so sad that Blue's stomach knotted guiltily, but it wasn't enough to make her turn back and apologize. She'd forgive her mother in time, she knew, but for now she just needed more of it.

*

That afternoon, Blue dropped her backpack near the door of Monmouth Manufacturing and looked around. Normally, even now, she'd have knocked before going inside, but the front door was flung open.

"Hello?" she called out. "Noah? Gansey?"

"Nope," said Ronan, appearing in the doorway of his room, his arms crossed over his chest. Chainsaw flapped out behind him and perched on Gansey's desk. "Do you always barge into people's houses?"

"Only the ones with wide open doors. Did you grow up in a barn?" She pointedly shut the door behind her.

Ronan laughed. "Yes," he said, which of course Blue already knew. "Gansey's not here."

Blue scrunched up her nose. "Do you know when he's coming back? He said he wanted to see me."

"Are you sure he didn't mean it in the general sense? Like, oh Blue Sargent, I can only wait 24 hours before laying my eyes upon your beautiful visage again?"

"Shut up," Blue mumbled. She wondered how much Ronan had worked out. Were they really that obvious? "No, I mean he said, 'Jane, after you're done with your day's schooling, would you please meet with me at Monmouth about an urgent matter?'"

"You do a pretty good impression of him," Ronan said approvingly. "Anyway, he'll probably be back soon. Henry Cheng grabbed him just as school ended, something about another dumbass petition and the headmaster's office. I hightailed it out of there pretty quick."

"So much for friendship and solidarity," Blue said. She slowly walked through the cardboard model of Henrietta that Gansey worked on whenever he couldn't sleep. It had grown since the last time she'd seen it, only been a few days before, and the bed that sat in the middle of the room was actually made for once. Gansey had possibly given up sleep completely. "Do you have any idea what he wanted?"

Ronan flung himself onto Gansey's neatly made bed. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say something about Glendower."

"Probably," Blue agreed, gingerly sitting on the edge of Gansey's bed. They really needed a couch. This was awkward; Blue hadn't spent this much time alone with Ronan… uh, ever, unless she counted that time they had to figure out how to get across a magical mirror lake without dying. Imminent peril seemed like it was cheating somehow, though.

"Actually, since you're here, I could use your opinion on something," Ronan said, rolling over till he could reach up and grab one of the tendrils that stuck out of her messy ponytail. Blue brushed him off, but not unkindly. "What do you think dreams about a decaying forest mean?"

Blue tried not to let her surprise at Ronan wanting her opinion and Ronan acting like a normal person show. "Like for regular people or for you?" She twisted around so she could look down at him.

"Either," Ronan said. 

"Okay, well, for a regular person, I'd say it was probably linked to anxiety over something in their waking life, or maybe that they're feeling guilty about something. For you, it might be that, or it might be an actual forest decaying. Have you been dreaming about dead trees?"

Ronan shrugged. "Not dead trees, just dying ones. They look all black and sick, you know? Rotting. And not all of them, only a few. But I can't tell if it's Cabeswater or just my head."

"Have you tried taking anything out with you?"

"Yeah, but there's nothing that will come with me."

Blue didn't pretend to understand everything about Ronan's powers, but she trusted that if he said he couldn't take anything out of those dreams, then he couldn't take anything out with him. She opened her mouth to ask him another question when the front door started rattling. Ronan sat up and mimicked zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Blue nodded.

Gansey framed the doorway. "Well, well, well. Would you look at this? My best friend and my… Jane."

"Old man," Ronan greeted. Blue waved.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," Gansey said. "I was unexpectedly delayed."

"No big deal," Blue said. "Ronan told me, and it's not like I had anywhere better to be."

"Still avoiding your family?" Gansey asked.

Blue nodded.

Gansey clucked with concern. He could be such a worrywart sometimes. "You can't avoid them forever."

"So they keep telling me."

Ronan said, "They're wrong. Avoid your family forever. I completely recommend it."

"Oh, hush," Gansey told him. "Jane's mother is hardly Declan. And we don't even know her father. He's a completely unknown quantity."

"I don't really care," Ronan said honestly. He nodded at the door. "Is Parrish outside?"

Gansey shook his head. "Shift at the shop. I think he said he was only going to be there until seven, though."

"Okay," Ronan said. He stood up and whistled for Chainsaw, who'd been dutifully shredding some notebook paper. She flew over and dug her claws into Ronan's shoulder. Every time she did that, Blue couldn't help but wince because it looked so painful. She couldn't imagine how it felt, even though Ronan never seemed fazed by it. "We're going to leave you two lovebirds alone." 

"We're not," Gansey said, just as Blue said, "It's not like that."

"I don't really care," Ronan repeated. Chainsaw cawed in agreement. "Don't worry; I don't think Parrish has worked it out yet." He left, slamming the door behind him. Blue wondered if he knew how to leave a room without slamming a door. She doubted it.

"Alone again," Gansey said. He smiled ruefully. "Did Ronan offer you anything to drink?"

Blue laughed. "Come on now. I'm fine, though."

"Okay." He crossed the room until he was standing right in front of Blue, but since Blue was still sitting on his bed, he loomed over her and the whole thing was sort of awkward. She looked up at his face.

"You need a couch," she told him. "Normal people have couches."

"You think I'm a normal person?" Gansey asked. "Jane, I'm wounded."

Blue rolled her eyes. "Sit."

Gansey sat. It alleviated some of the awkwardness, but it also meant that they were alone on his bed. Blue fidgeted with some fringe at the bottom of her shirt, and Gansey reached over to cover her hand with his. "You know you don't have to worry about me," he said. He flipped her hand over and started idly tracing over her heart line and her fate line; Blue didn't think he knew what he was doing, either, which made it worse. "Just because I want something doesn't mean I'd lure you into doing anything you'd rather not."

"The problem isn't that you want to do something I don't," Blue said. "The problem is I want to do the same things you do, but can't." 

She squeezed his hand and then ran her fingers up his arm and neck until she was cupping his cheek. Gansey blinked at her with his long, long eyelashes and shivered when she brushed her fingertips across his mouth. No matter how much Blue felt like she was destined for something more, she also sometimes desperately wished she could just be like every other teenaged girl. She guessed there'd be a whole lot less talking and a whole lot more doing when alone on a bed with a boy she liked if she were anyone else.

Gansey cleared his throat and shifted away. "This isn't a good idea."

"No," she agreed and sighed. Then she straightened up, all business. "What was the urgent matter you wanted to discuss?"

"Oh, that's probably not a good idea, either," Gansey said, matching her sigh. "That's something that's probably going to make you angry."

"Gansey."

"I have a favor to ask you, and you can say no, but I would really rather that you didn't."

Blue rolled her eyes. "For goodness sake, just spit it out."

"Jane, I need you to talk to your father about Glendower."

" _What_?"

"See, I told you that you'd be mad," Gansey said. "But honestly, there's some real logic behind it. First, we know he was a contemporary of Glendower, though we're not sure in what capacity. Second, he's currently the only person on earth who both knew Glendower and isn't mad as a hatter, so he's an ideal source of information. Third, because he's your father, he's much more likely to open up to you than he is to me. I'm just some random idiot who wants a favor as far as he's concerned."

"You're right, I am angry," Blue said. "What's in it for me?"

Gansey smiled. "My unending gratitude?"

"Hmm."

"And come on," he continued in that infuriatingly convincing way he had, "you know you've always been curious about him. This is your chance to get to know your father for real. I think you'd regret it if you didn't take that chance."

Blue rubbed her eyes. She wanted to scream at Gansey and stomp around, not because he had the audacity to ask her to break her parental standoff, but because he was right. She _did_ want to know her father. She always had.

"Okay," she agreed, "I'll do it. But you owe a favor to be named later."

"That's fine." Gansey spread his hands magnanimously. "I'm all about the favors."

*

Later that night, Blue tried to help Gansey, she really did.

Artemus wasn't staying at her house because Maura thought it might be strange for Blue (she was right), but she helped him get set up in an apartment nearby. Blue wondered what time travelers did for money. Maybe he was like Ronan and could just dream it into existence, even though she didn't like the idea of other people having Ronan's power, or maybe Maura was helping him out, even though she didn't have much money of her own. But even if he wasn't officially staying with them, he did seem to hang out at the house a lot, even though the only people who ever paid him any mind were Maura and occasionally Orla. And Orla only paid attention because she was nosy, not because she had any specific interest in Artemus himself.

"Have you seen my dad?" Blue asked Orla. She'd just gotten home after visiting Gansey and a shift at Nino's. Orla was fixing her nail polish, some elaborate three-color gradient effect she called ombre or something. It looked pretty neat, Blue had to admit, but the upkeep was way out of her league. Blue sometimes thought brushing her hair counted as a complicated beauty routine.

"He was with your mother earlier," Orla said. She pointed up. "In her room. I didn't really want to hang around for the nitty-gritty, if you catch my drift."

Blue grimaced. She also didn't want to be around for the nitty-gritty. She, in fact, hoped that there was no nitty-gritty going on at all, one because she wasn't really looking for a sibling and two because she thought Maura had something going on with Mr. Gray. Grown-ups could be so mysterious sometimes. She just went to the kitchen for a drink of water instead.

But as it so happened, Artemus was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper from three days ago. Blue didn't even know where it came from. 300 Fox Way didn't have subscriptions to either of Henrietta's newspapers because even one Henrietta newspaper was totally unnecessary. He was drinking the footy tea that Malory also favored.

"Hullo, Blue," Artemus greeted. His voice was friendly and he immediately folded the newspaper to give Blue his full attention. Blue opened her mouth, closed it again, and ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the sanctity of her room.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. If she told Gansey about this, he would understand. He would be disappointed, but he would understand. But Blue didn't really get it. She was used to dealing with her problems with defensiveness and sarcasm; running away wasn't usually how she dealt with things. But maybe it wasn't so much that she was mad at her father – maybe it was just that she was afraid that he wouldn't like her if he got to know her. It was one thing to be abandoned as a baby, but it was quite another for someone to confirm you weren't lovable once your personality was almost cemented in place.

With that revelation, Blue drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

Blue had one of those dreams where she knew she was in a dream. Something about the haziness of the details and how she felt taller gave it away. Blue was totally tall in her dreams. Everyone was a giant while they slept.

She was in the halls of her high school. No, in Maura and Calla's reading room. Persephone waved hello. No, she was in Noah's room at Monmouth Manufacturing, sitting on his neatly made bed. His lack of personal effects stood out even more here. As always, Noah wasn't in her dreams. He never was; she figured it was a side-effect of him being dead, but then she wondered about Persephone. Maybe to dream about the dead you had to know them while they're still living. One more memorial.

Gansey knocked on the door. Even in dreams, he was polite. But unlike Noah, Gansey frequently showed up here. Blue's dreams about Gansey had a frustrating quality to them, but that was the same as her waking life so it didn't seem out of place.

He was her favorite Gansey, the one who owned a pair of jeans like a normal boy and wore glasses that gave him a slightly quizzical expression. The one who had a worry line between his eyebrows, partially hidden by the bridge of his frames. To Blue, this was the real Gansey, even though she actually knew all the Ganseys she'd met were real.

"Blue," Gansey said, stepping into the room. He was confident and lovely and calling her by her real name, which had more of an effect on her than she'd like to admit. "You know that nothing can hurt us here."

"I know," Blue said. She held out her hand for him. He grabbed it and pressed a kiss to the back. The shock of his lips sent a shiver down her spine. "You're too far away."

Gansey climbed on the bed and settled himself on the pillows. She was surprised, but realized after a moment that even dream-Gansey was waiting for her to give the cues. Blue rolled toward him, and Gansey immediately pressed his palm to the small of her back, pulling her in. She could feel his fingertips pushing up the hem of her shirt, and the warmth of his skin against hers was almost too much to take.

Blue focused her attention on Gansey's eyes, then his mouth. Like he'd said, this was a dream, nothing could hurt them here. She wanted to take advantage of that favor, so she did.

When their lips touched, the anticipation of the moment was anything but a disappointment. She supposed it was hard to be disappointed while in the middle of a good dream, but there was more to it than that; Blue had never thought she could have this, so getting her way could only be good.

This was nothing like her kisses with Noah. Gansey was warm and full of life, pulling her closer still and opening his mouth to her. She tripped her fingers up his side and slid her tongue into his mouth. He shifted them on the bed, until Blue's legs were straddling his hips. At that, they both let out sounds that were both foreign to Blue's ears and also so, so right. And they never stopped kissing, not even for a second.

This was so easy! Why couldn't her waking life be like this?

Blue fell off the bed.

Not in the dream – dreams didn't really work that way, did they? If she'd fallen in the dream, she probably would have fallen forever, not landed with a hard thump that hurt her shoulder. And her eyes wouldn't have had to adjust to the dark room. And Gwenllian probably wouldn't have been leaning over her crumpled body and staring curiously at her.

"What the hell!" Blue shouted, scrambling backward. Gwenllian laughed and clapped merrily.

"You moan so in your sleep, little witch! Were you hurt or was it the other kind?" Gwenllian waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Don't worry; I already know the answer."

" _Leave_."

"Which of your knights was it? The tall one who rules dreams? Though I don't believe he likes the maidens. Ooh, or maybe the delicate, broken one! Gwenllian could break him further."

Blue climbed back into bed and pulled her comforter up to her neck with as much dignity as she could muster. "If you're trying to rattle me, it's not working. Go back to the attic."

"I think it's the pretty one. The one who so reminds me of my father, though I must say, my father did not features so fine. But even without those, my father could convince any woman into his bed." Gwenllian straightened out to her full height and put her hands on both hips. "That's how the world got me!"

"Aren't we lucky?" Blue said sarcastically. "Gansey's not... bedding anyone, so don't worry about it. Now leave."

Gwenllian sat on the edge of Blue's bed and patted her foot reassuringly. "These feelings you're having are perfectly natural."

"Oh my god!" Blue kicked Gwenllian's hand. She didn't know what was happening, but she was relatively sure she didn't want the medieval version of the sex talk. "Get out and let me go back to sleep."

"Fine, fine," Gwenllian said, rising and doing a slow twirl. "I just came with a warning."

"I know not to eat cold hot dogs with peanut butter, thanks."

Gwenllian ignored this. "You know many people who speak with pretty words, but your father's are the prettiest. I don't trust him and neither should you." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "He hates witches."

When Gwenllian swept out of the room a moment later, Blue frowned at the doorway. Gwenllian was like Ronan, in a way, someone who could be difficult to talk to, but not someone who was a liar. Blue wasn't sure what to believe.

*

The next morning Blue knocked on Calla's door.

"Hello, small girl," Calla said. She was still in bed, but awake and reading, and didn't seem upset by Blue's interruption.

"Can I borrow the car this weekend?"

"Hmm," Calla said thoughtfully. "Will you be taking anyone with you? And before you can answer, easily possessed ghost friends don't count."

Blue frowned. "I actually wasn't planning on it."

"Bzzt! Wrong answer!" Calla placed her book on the nightstand and folded her hands in front of her. "Would you like to try again?"

Blue sat on Calla's bed and gave her the pleading eyes that usually got Maura to do whatever Blue wanted. "Come on, Calla, it was one time. I won't be gone long, I promise."

"And where were you planning on taking the car?" Calla asked.

"Cabeswater," Blue said.

Calla arched one eyebrow and shot Blue a look. It was a devastating skill, one that Blue desperately wished she too possessed, but no matter how often she'd practiced as a little kid, raising one eyebrow always meant the other quickly followed. Even so, Blue raised both of her eyebrows back and didn't blink.

"It'll be during the day," Blue added helpfully.

"I don't know if you remember this," Calla said, "but Cabeswater doesn't really understand things like time of day or short visit."

Blue said, dejected, "Sometimes it does." But Calla actually had a good point. "I can take someone with me."

"Someone with access to a telephone and corporeality?"

" _Yes_."

Calla looked satisfied. "Okay, then you can take the car on Saturday. Though I also don't recommend taking the angry one."

"I'm researching something for him," Blue said, "only he doesn't know it, so I can't take him anyway. And I can't tell Gansey. I guess I can ask Adam if he's free."

Calla nodded. "Coca-Cola shirt? He's all at one with the forest, so that'll work. Just make sure you're back by dark."

"Thank you!" Blue got up and threw her arms around Calla who patted her back and then shoved her away. It was a reassuring gesture somehow. "Calla, can I ask you something else?"

"I don't have any other vehicles to lend you. If you want a helicopter or private plane, talk to the pretty rich boy."

Blue wrinkled her nose. "I didn't really like flying," she said. "But no, I was just wondering about Butternut. Artemus. Since he's here and doesn't seem to be disappearing again."

"I've told you about your father before," Calla said.

"Yeah, but no, you haven't. All I really know is that my mother ignored all her family and friends for about a year and that she thinks me being born sent him away again. What was he like? What were _they_ like?"

"In love," Calla said thoughtfully. She wrinkled her nose. "Disgustingly so. Your mother was still wearing too much plaid, though that was on its way out by the time you were born. Our jeans were too high. You wouldn't have liked them, but you would have liked everyone wearing combat boots."

Blue _would_ have liked that. "Did he ever talk about where he came from?"

"Not really," Calla said. "But he has a magical aura. Anyone with our gifts –"

"Your gifts."

"Don't interrupt me. Anyone with our gifts could sense it, and that's probably what drew Maura to him in the first place. Also, he was older than us back then, though things are more even now. He seemed wise and he's not bad looking. He's not really my type, but I understand the appeal of an accent." At that, Calla's Virginia drawl became more Virginia and more drawl. "You should really talk to your mother about this."

"Maybe," Blue agreed. "Thanks."

"No problem, kiddo." Calla reached over and patted Blue's hand reassuringly. "And always remember: don't break my car or I'll kill you."

*

"Ms. Sargent! Blue! Blue, dear. _Blue Sargent_ , please snap out of it!"

Blue, surprised, twisted around in the hallway of Mountain View High when she heard her full name. The person calling had the tone of someone who'd called her name more than once. Blue felt slightly guilty. "Oh hi, Ms. Shiftlet. Did you need me?"

Ms. Shiftlet stopped to catch her breath and Blue felt even guiltier. It wasn't like she liked her guidance counselor very much, but she'd be sad if she made her pass out in the middle of school.

"Yes," wheezed Ms. Shiftlet. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for several days. Don't you check your school email account?"

Blue winced. "Sometimes? We don't have a computer at home."

"Hmm," Ms. Shiftlet said. She used to work in the post office, Henrietta was a very small town, and Ms. Shiftlet was an utterly upstanding citizen, so that _hmm_ conveyed everything she thought about what Blue and her family had in their home. Blue sometimes used the school computers to check her email, but since she almost exclusively received newsletters from the school itself, it all seemed pretty useless. "Well, I wanted to know the status of your college applications. It's November. Early action deadlines have already passed and the regular ones are coming up quickly. And to get priority consideration, you have to complete your FAFSA by January, you know."

Blue did know. And what she also knew is she'd done absolutely nothing for her college applications, and furthermore, she couldn't bring herself to care much even if she knew she _should_ care.

"You're not going away for school, are you?" asked a new voice in Blue's ear. Since it was Noah, Blue tried not to turn in the direction of the sound. Ms. Shiftlet couldn't see him anyway. But even out of the corner of her eye, Blue could make out his dejected expression.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Shiftlet," Blue said. "I just haven't made my final decisions yet."

"Keep in mind community college is always an option," Ms. Shiftlet said. "They require less documentation and you could always transfer to a four-year school in two years." She started to walk away, still wagging her finger at Blue. "Procrastination is the easy path. You're a smart girl, Blue. Don't throw your future away."

" _Don't throw your future away_ ," Noah mimicked. "God."

Blue smiled, but something was bothering her and she suspected that it was that Ms. Shiftlet was right. After their appointment when Ms. Shiftlet had blown up her dreams of going to school in the rainforest, Blue tried forgetting that she even wanted to go to college at all. But in a couple of months, she'd have to accept the reality that everyone around her would be leaving her. If they could figure out how to keep him alive, Gansey would probably go Ivy. Adam was a genius and could get a scholarship anywhere, and Ronan– okay, she had no idea what Ronan would do, but she really couldn't see him staying in Henrietta forever. 

"Henrietta's not so bad," Noah told her. "I'll always be here!" That was because he had no choice, but Blue wisely didn't say that out loud. 

"I know, Noah."

Blue Sargent and Her Ghost Buddy. Maybe she could write autobiographical children's books.

"Did you need something?" Blue asked. Sometimes Noah showed up just to keep her company, but other times the Aglionby boys would send him to her. Not having a body and being able to pop up wherever on the ley line had its advantages.

Noah shrugged. It was such a human gesture that Blue almost forgot what he was. But then again, he was also hovering two inches off the ground and she could see a row of lockers through his face. "You never visit me anymore."

"I was just at your house two days ago," Blue said.

"Yeah, but you weren't there to see _me_ ," Noah pointed out. "You didn't visit me. You didn't even look for me. But it's okay; I'm used to being forgotten. Everyone forgets about me eventually."

Blue reached out and squeezed his hand, glad that he was solid enough that she could manage that. "I'm not going to forget about you."

"That's nice of you to say, but you will. You'll grow old and move away, and I can't do either. I've already been dead for seven years and in seven more, I'll still be me. Did you know humans replace their old cells every seven years? I think I read that once. So you'll be a whole new person."

This conversation was too sad. "I don't think I know what will happen then," Blue said. "Don't worry about it."

"I don't usually." Blue and Noah walked – well, walked and hovered – down the hall towards Blue's next class. "I'm glad you have time for me. I'm glad I have real friends now."

"Didn't you have friends, you know, before?"

Noah scrunched up his forehead. "I had Barrington. He was kind of like a friend, kind of like an enemy. And, I mean, he murdered me, so how much of a friend was he really?"

"That's a very good point," Blue murmured. She hoped he wasn't about to act out his murder again. The whole thing was awful, but Blue could never _not_ watch his eleven-minute one-ghost play. Rubbernecking. That's what Blue was, a rubbernecker.

"But no one at Aglionby really liked each other back then – Gansey and all of them are different. When I was there, it was just how many girls you could bang and how much money your parents donated where and who was running for office and what college you were going to go to."

"Had you planned on going to college?" Blue asked. She pictured Noah a little older, less smudgy, slouching in the back of a lecture hall.

"I don't think my family knew the meaning of _not_ going to college. My dad went to Princeton, my mom to Georgetown, and they met in grad school at Harvard. I got into all three," Noah added. He didn't seem particularly proud of this; it was just a statement of fact. But Blue supposed when you could buy your way in anywhere, getting into one of the best schools wasn't as impressive as it could be. "But what you have is better. What _I_ have is better now. I loved my family, but they never really felt like mine," he admitted. "You all feel like you're mine."

"And that's why we can't leave."

"You can," Noah said. "I just won't like it." 

And with that, he disappeared again.

*

"Calla! Calla!" Blue slammed the door to 300 Fox Way, rattling the door on its hinges, but no one answered so Blue went searching. It was weirdly quiet for a Friday evening; Jimi wasn't hollering at Orla, there were no little cousins playfighting in the living room, even Gwenllian wasn't hey-nonny-nonnying anywhere. "Calla?" Blue tried again, peeking into the reading room. "Mom?" she finally tried after a minute.

"I don't believe anyone is home," called a man's voice from the kitchen. 

"Oh," Blue said, walking in the direction of the voice. Her father was sitting at the kitchen table again, much as he had the other night. This time Blue drew up her courage and sat down with him. "Why are you here?"

"Waiting for your mother to return. She had a date with the gentleman who wears all the gray." Artemus managed to keep his voice even when he said this, but it was almost too even, and it gave him away. Her father was bothered by Mr. Gray. 

Well, too bad for him. Mr. Gray hadn't disappeared. In fact, Mr. Gray was supposed to go on the run and still came back. In double fact, Mr. Gray had stuck around even though Maura herself had disappeared. It wasn't like Maura was a thing that anyone _deserved_ to win or something, but if she wanted to go out with him, Artemus had no right to be jealous. 

"And everyone else?"

"I believe a group decided to see a movie," Artemus said, clearly happy for the change of subject. "They asked if I wished to accompany them, but the witch – Gwenllian was with them. I don't like them anyway. Maura once brought me to one and it hurt my eyes."

"Yeah, well, I guess they take some getting used to when you didn't even grow up with electricity."

"Exactly right."

Blue straightened in her chair, drawing herself to her full height. "Well, I suppose you'll do, since you're here."

Artemus looked amused. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Blue said. "Did you have any expectations put on you when you were a kid? Mom never really expected much of me – not that I mean she's never been proud of me or whatever, but once they worked out I wasn't a psychic like the rest of them, she's always let me do my own thing."

"I've noticed," Artemus said. "She even lets you not speak to her for days on end, if it's something that you desire."

Blue looked down at her hands. "I've been meaning to talk to her about that. But what about you? Did you know your family?"

"Mmm. I was highborn. My family was always involved with Glendower's. And when they discovered my abilities, well, the options open to me narrowed considerably. Not that I resented that; I definitely support the king's cause. But my path was fairly rock solid."

"What are your powers anyway? Gwenllian doesn't like you much."

Artemus frowned a bit. "Well, I can't say that I blame her. I wouldn't like me much if I were her either, considering what I was required to do. I'm a magician. I believe one of your friends is also gifted?"

Blue nodded. "Adam. But he kind of sort of sacrificed himself to an ancient magical forest for those powers. He didn't come by them naturally."

"Who's to say what's natural?" Artemus asked. He reached across the table, towards Blue, and grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil, drawing a big circle on the first page. "What does this look like to you?"

"An unfinished happy face?"

Artemus laughed. "There's no doubt who your mother is. And that being said, let's back up a bit. Remember when we met in the cave near the door of the third sleeper? I didn't believe that Maura was your mother. Why do you think that was?"

Blue shrugged. "Her peaches and cream complexion?"

Artemus added a crude doodle of a stick figure with a distended belly. "My apologies, I'm not much of an artist. But I just want to remind you that this was essentially what your mother looked like when I'd last seen her. I knew you existed. It took your birth to send me back to my proper time. _I knew you existed_ , but –" Artemus drew a darker circle around his original. "I've also met you before."

"I don't get it." Then, suddenly, Blue remembered the three women with her face on the Mab Darogan. "We've never met."

"You're right!" Artemus said. He drew a dark dot somewhere on the circle's circumference. "This is where you are now." He drew another dark circle a few inches away. "This is where you were when we met. You didn't tell me that you're my daughter, but we've met before – when I put Glendower to sleep. People live straight paths, but time isn't a straight line. And I can tell that you already know that something about you is destined for greatness."

Blue sat silently for a moment. "I think I need some yogurt."

Artemus didn't say anything, waiting for Blue to go to the fridge and then pace nervously around the kitchen for a bit. Time travel? Blue didn't even think she was going to go to _college_ , let alone back to medieval times. But there was so much evidence of it: the Pig's tire at the bottom of the swamp, hanging out with Glendower's shield; her face on the Mab Darogan; the way Cabeswater could cycle through all four seasons in minutes. Her father.

"But how?" Blue asked finally.

"An excellent question. Like most things worth doing in life, gaining access to everything time has to offer requires hard work and sacrifice. And though your friend… Adam, was it?" Blue nodded. "Though Adam might not have been born with the same powers that I have, this –" He pointed to the circle again, "– indicates that it was meant to happen. Everything happens for a reason."

Blue asked, "So why did you leave?"

"Ah, dear Blue," Artemus sighed. "I didn't have a choice. I wasn't supposed to be here then, and I'm not supposed to be here now. Sooner or later, something will send me back to my proper place, and I suspect you'll know how it happened. Time likes stability."

*

"Hello, I'm calling to see if anyone at this phone number has dirt on individuals running for Congress. Are you a disgruntled friend or family member of any?" Blue shooed Orla as she took the cordless phone into her room.

"Somewhat disgruntled family member of one," Gansey replied after a pause. "No dirt on her, though. She's very tidy."

"Potential clean freak, got it," Blue replied. "That'll look great in a headline. Thanks for your time." 

Blue could hear Gansey smiling through the phone. "Are you going to hang up on me now?"

"Well, I was _going_ to," Blue said, "but now you've got me feeling all contrary." These late-night phone calls always gave her an illicit thrill, even though their conversation topics never even bordered on illicit. It was just the knowledge that any time she called, Gansey would answer. And not only would he answer, but he would be happy to hear her voice. Blue had never had that effect on anyone before, not even Adam. It kind of gave away how little she and Adam ever really had. "Gansey?"

"Yes, Jane?"

Blue also wouldn't admit how much his stupid nickname for her had grown on her. "What are your plans for next year?" She refused to think about his lost stumble through a cold graveyard last St. Mark's Eve. This Gansey would have plans next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.

"Are you sure you're not doing an article on my mother? Or maybe you're one of my great-aunts. They love that question," Gansey said.

"No, I just –" Blue took a deep breath. "It's hard to picture you separated from Henrietta, you know?" She could hear Gansey breathing on the other end. She sat down on her floor because even stretching out on her bed alone seemed too intimate in this moment. "I'll probably still be here," she concluded.

"I honestly don't know," Gansey told her. "I can hardly picture the next day, let alone months from now. But as soon as I figure it out, I promise you'll be the first person I tell."

"Pinky swear?"

Gansey laughed. "Pinky swear. Scout's honor, too, if that means anything. I'm a bona fide Boy Scout, you know."

"I'm not at all surprised by that," Blue said.

"No one ever is," Gansey said sadly. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

Thanksgiving? Huh. Blue had nearly forgotten that the holidays were coming up. It had been a very eventful fall. "I'm not sure yet," Blue said.

"Do you and your family usually have a big dinner?" Gansey asked.

"No. Well, sort of. I suppose any dinner with my family is a big dinner, but usually no one makes a turkey. All we have are six side dishes and twice that in pies. Then Calla gets drunk and starts ranting about smallpox infested blankets." Blue toyed with the lace on her top shirt. She was wearing three layers today. "But to be honest, that could happen any old Thursday. It'll be weird without Persephone."

"I can imagine," Gansey said softly. "Well, I can't, but I can. I'm sorry, I'm probably saying something deeply offensive."

"You're doing all right."

"Oh, good. I wanted to know because, well, would you like to come to my family's house? I really want them to meet you."

Blue was a little alarmed. Gansey – her Gansey – was one thing. Ganseys, plural, were another beast entirely, especially when they'd be on their home turf and she'd be flailing wildly. "Just me?" she finally squeaked.

"Oh! Oh no. Ronan would be coming, and Adam, too, if he wants. I wouldn't throw you to the wolves alone," Gansey said. "Also, I have to warn you, there's probably going to be a fundraiser or a charity event or some other boring grown-up party the night before. But I'd love it if you said yes."

"And if I said no?" Blue asked, knowing she wasn't going to say no.

"Then I'd be sad," said Gansey.

"Then in that case I suppose I have to say yes," Blue said. Gansey made a happy noise on the other end of the line. "By the way, I talked to my father for you." For her, too, but she couldn't quite say that out loud yet.

"Blue, get off the phone! We're losing 3.99 a minute!" Orla shouted, knocking insistently on Blue's bedroom door.

"Ugh, Orla needs the phone," Blue said. "I have a shift at Nino's tomorrow, come talk to me then, okay?"

"I'll be there with bells on," Gansey said.

"Literally, I hope," Blue said.

"Of course."

"BLUE," Orla yelled.

"OH GOD, KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON," Blue yelled back. "Bye, Gansey, " she said, much more softly.

"Till tomorrow," Gansey said, and hung up. He could be so corny, Blue thought, uncurling her toes before getting up and handing Orla the phone.

*

"There's someone requesting you for their table," Donny, the manager on duty, told Blue about an hour into her Nino's shift.

"Okay," Blue said, wiping her hands on her apron. She went into the dining room, expecting to see a table of Aglionby boys climbing over each other and grinning in her direction, but the only person looking at her was her mother.

Blue took a deep breath. She supposed, in a way, she'd asked for this. Maura looked decidedly strange sitting in one of Nino's old booths. It wasn't that Maura didn't occasionally live on pizza, but she didn't really go _out_ for pizza. In Maura's world, going out was special and nothing about Nino's was that.

"What can I get you?" Blue asked, her pencil and order pad poised at the ready.

"Do you have a normal relationship with my daughter on the menu?" Maura asked. "With a side order of her mother profusely apologizing." She shot Blue a winning smile.

"I'll have to talk to the cook." Blue slid into the booth across from Maura and folded her hands in front of her; her mother reached over and squeezed her hand. "Thanks, Mom. I probably should apologize, too."

Maura shook her head. "Don't ever apologize for deserved anger. Too many women think they need to apologize for every little thing. And I deserved that."

Blue rested her forehead on her mother's and her joined hands. "Yeah, but it went on too long and I was stupid. Plus, I missed you."

"Oh, baby," Maura sighed. "I missed you, too. Every minute."

"Never do that again?"

"I'll never do that again," Maura agreed. "Now if you're not too busy, I really do want a large with black olives and mushrooms to go. Wait, is the sausage edible here?"

Blue looked up and made a face.

"Yeah, no sausage. I guess I should scratch Calla's calamari, too, then, huh?"

Blue looked alarmed.

"Definitely no calamari, got it." Maura grinned. "Your troublemakers are here."

She was right. Ronan was giving Noah a noogie in the doorway, Adam and Gansey following behind, deep in conversation. Gansey caught her eye and smiled broadly; she returned the expression unthinkingly and her mother laughed at her. Blue knew she looked goofy but she couldn't help it.

"Go talk to them," Maura ordered her. "But go get my pizza first."

*

The next day, Blue pulled up to the rectory at St. Agnes Church and beeped the horn. Last night while Gansey was engrossed in this paper football thing Ronan and Noah were playing, Blue had pulled Adam aside and asked him if he could help her with Cabeswater. She wasn't surprised when he readily agreed, looking only slightly pained when she asked him to keep it a secret from Gansey. The two of them had a bigger secret where Gansey was concerned anyway.

Adam climbed into the car and slammed the door behind him. "Thanks for driving," he said. "My car's stuck at the garage."

"No problem," Blue said, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. She'd worked hard to pry the keys out of Calla's hands, after all, and she needed the road practice. So far things were going pretty well. She'd remembered to turn off her left blinker and the receive bacon button seemed to be functioning well. "What happened to your car?"

"Hmm," Adam said. "You know the thing where cars generally need working engines to run?"

"Yeah?" She put the car into drive again and slowly pulled out onto the street. They'd mostly be taking back roads, which were somehow easier for Blue. Bumpy and dirty and slow she could deal with; highways were the things that scared her.

"My car decided it didn't want the one it had anymore." He shrugged. "It was a piece of shit when Gansey's sister gave it to me anyway, so it was no surprise. And I'm installing the new engine on Monday. Boyd – you know, my boss from the garage? – is letting me use his stuff at no charge."

Blue looked alarmed. "Aren't engines, like, really expensive?" 

Adam nodded. "Generally, yeah. But Ronan got one for me."

"Oh cool!" Blue exclaimed. "Like how he pulled a whole Pig out of his dreams? Except I bet he made you an actually working engine, since you know about cars and all, unlike Gansey."

"I do know about cars," Adam agreed. "But no. Ronan didn't dream me up an engine. He bought it."

"You let Ronan Lynch buy you an engine?" This wasn't the Adam that Blue used to know.

"Yep," Adam said again, but said no more.

"Huh."

They drove along in companionable silence, only the music the Ford's ancient tape deck keeping them company. The road to Cabeswater seemed much less perilous than she'd been anticipating. It was almost welcoming them, in fact, and she didn't know if that was because she was better behind the wheel now or because it was Cabeswater's doing. Maybe a bit of both. 

"Adam, do you already know why I wanted to explore Cabeswater this time?"

"Why do you ask?"

Blue shrugged. "Well, it has to do with Ronan, and you two spend a lot of time together now." She glanced over at the passenger seat.

Adam kept his face decidedly neutral. Huh. "He might have mentioned something about it," he admitted.

"Okay," Blue said, dropping the subject. They were almost there now anyway. "Well, I'm glad you could make it."

Blue parked the car in a field, and they got out so they could start walking. Cabeswater was as green and welcoming as Blue always pictured it. On the surface, it was nothing but idyllic and it didn't seem like it could ever be trouble in any way, but she knew that Cabeswater also held a lot of secrets. Even Adam and Ronan, who were more in touch with it than Blue, seemed to only understand a fraction of the power it held.

They came to clearing surrounded by a circle of impossibly tall trees when Adam stopped suddenly.

"What?" Blue asked.

"Wait," Adam said, tilting his head. "I'm listening."

Well, even if Adam was full of surprises today, at least she could always count on him being a big Cabeswater-loving weirdo.

Adam made a frustrated sound and knelt down in the clearing, pulling Persephone's old deck of tarot cards from a pocket in his jacket. He flipped four cards and examined them thoughtfully. Blue peered over his shoulder: Page of Cups, Strength, The Lovers, The Magician. The first one was probably her, but whether she was actually meant to be part of the reading remained to be seen. Sometimes being a psychic battery interfered with instead of enhanced whatever it was her family, or now Adam, were trying to accomplish.

"Did you hear that?" Adam asked.

"Hear what?"

But Adam didn't answer. He collected the cards and stood, walking briskly toward the trees. Blue followed. She hoped wherever they were headed that it wouldn't start snowing because she hadn't worn enough layers for that.

They walked and walked through bushes and underbrush that got more and more tangled longer they walked. Adam never got too far ahead of Blue, but she could tell he wished her legs were longer so they could get further, faster. Then just as suddenly as he'd started, Adam stopped.

"Blue, could you please help me?" Adam asked politely. He pointed in one direction at two small stones that she wouldn't have even noticed otherwise. "Can you bring those over here?" Adam busied himself putting five larger stones in a row while Blue did what he asked. He pointed again, and she added them to the line.

As soon as Blue put her stones in place, she could see Adam's whole posture change. He suddenly looked like _more_. He tilted his head to the side again.

"Can you see them?" Adam asked her in a hushed whisper. His eyes darted fretfully from one side to the other.

"See what?" Blue touched his arm. "Adam?"

"Ghosts. Spirits, all around us. From all times." Blue thought about her father and the way he talked about all time happening at one time. Adam shook his head, hard. "I wish I had a scrying bowl. I can't listen when all of you talk at once!" he shouted at nothing. Adam knelt down and turned some more cards. Blue didn't even get a look at them before he scooped them up again. "That's better. This way," he told Blue, pointing.

This time they didn't walk far at all and when they got there, Blue _knew_. It was impossible not to. The trees, the bushes, even the grass were dying, and not the way trees usually died. These weren't brown and dry, they were inky black and slimy. No, not slimy, _slick_. Blue thought about wildlife documentaries she'd seen where ocean animals got covered in oil after a tanker crash.

"What did this?" Blue asked. She reached out to touch a tree trunk, but Adam quickly pushed her hand away.

" _Dormis_. The sleeper," Adam said. "Blue, it's awake."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the inky blackness came alive. It looked like tentacles or the feet of a millipede trying to grab them.

Blue unthinkingly pulled Adam behind her. "Shrink down!" she yelled. She had to yell because the arm-foot-tentacle things started hissing loudly, making it hard for Blue to even hear herself think. It was disgusting. The things didn't have mouths, though to be honest, she didn't know if that made things better or worse.

Adam ran behind her, crouching so his head was lower than hers and put his hand on her shoulder. Blue drew herself up to her full five feet and faced the monster head on.

"I am a mirror!" Blue shouted. "I reflect whatever you are. I am a bubble! Anything that touches me is protected. He is Cabeswater's eyes and ears! I magnify his power. Nothing here can harm him."

The monster slithered forward, rearing up to attack, but when it lunged forward, the inky black mass surrounding them on all sides but not touching them at all. With one last horrifying screech, the monster withdrew, leaving behind only decimated trees and an unscathed Blue and Adam. 

"I think it's gone," Blue said, letting out an unsteady breath. 

"Blue, watch out!" Adam shouted, shoving Blue out of the way. He braced himself as a dead tree toppled down, breaking into a circle of dust but never touching Adam at all. From the safety of three feet away, Blue stared at him wide-eyed. 

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, offering her a hand up. 

"Are _you_?" Blue asked. 

Adam nodded shakily. "I think we should get out of here."

"Yeah," Blue agreed. 

*

Blue drove them straight to Monmouth Manufacturing. She knew that this was too big to keep between her and Adam. She didn't understand how the third sleeper had gotten out. The Gray Man, Blue, and her parents had all escaped with that door still shut, and Piper and Morris had died in the cave. And even though however it happened probably wasn't Blue's fault, she still felt like a failure.

"Did you see Aurora at all?" Adam asked her suddenly. His whole body looked tense, like a violin string ready for plucking. His hands were folded together on his lap and Blue could see that the tops of his fingers had all gone red because he was squeezing them together so hard. She hoped he didn't fly apart.

"No Aurora," Blue confirmed. But she hadn't been looking for Ronan's mother either. Where did dreams go when no one was looking for them? She turned onto Gansey and Ronan's street and pulled the Ford between Gansey's Suburban and Ronan's BMW. The Pig wasn't in the lot, which meant that Ronan was probably home and Gansey probably wasn't. Blue and Adam jumped out of the car, and while Blue was about to knock (at least Ronan had shut the door this time), Adam burst right through the front door without waiting.

"Ronan!" Adam yelled. No answer. "Ronan, you ass, we know you're here, get out here right now!" Blue blinked at him, shocked. It wasn't that she'd never heard Adam talk like that when Ronan was involved, but usually Ronan had done something to provoke it.

Ronan and Noah both poked their heads out of Noah's room. Blue peeked around them to see they'd set up some elaborate racetrack out of Gansey's leftover cereal boxes and had designed cars from empty soda and beer cans. If Gansey were here, he'd probably lament how much wasted potential Ronan had.

"Imagine if you applied yourself that much to your schoolwork," Gansey said, coming up behind Adam and Blue. Which was exactly what Blue had pictured him saying. "Adam." He offered up his fist, which Adam tapped obligingly though he still looked distracted. "Jane," he said, tipping an imaginary hat. That would be an asshole move from anyone else, but Blue was just too used to Gansey being Gansey to find it anything but charming.

"What did you two jerks want?" Ronan asked. "Noah and I were in the middle of something."

"My car was about to crush Ronan's," Noah said.

"Yeah, right!"

"Superior craftsmanship," Noah insisted. "No dreams allowed and you fall apart every time."

"Enough!" Adam suddenly shouted. Someone had plucked the violin's string.

Blue put her hand on Adam's arm. "It's okay," she said. "We just got back from Cabeswater. We were looking into –" She glanced in Gansey's direction. "Is it okay if I tell everyone, Ronan?"

Ronan stared at Adam and nodded. Blue wasn't surprised that he so readily agreed. It was impossible not to understand the gravity of the situation while looking at Adam's face.

"Ronan's been having dreams about decaying forests," Blue explained. "Adam and I wanted to know if they were just dreams or if it actually was happening in Cabeswater."

"I guess it's not all happening up here," Ronan said, tapping his head.

"No," Blue said. "And what's more, we know what's causing it. Someone woke up the third sleeper."

Gansey said, "Who is it?"

"Who's who?" Blue asked.

"The sleeper. Why were they so dangerous that we weren't supposed to wake them up?"

"It's not so much a _them_ as an _it_ ," Blue said. "At least, if it was human at one point, I don't think it qualifies anymore."

Adam walked over to Gansey's desk and found some blank lined paper and a pencil. He sketched what he and Blue saw with scary-good accuracy. Blue didn't know he had artistic skills. In fact, she still wasn't sure whether or not he did. It could be just his magic at work again. 

Noah peered over Adam's shoulder and let out a low whistle. Blue could feel how cold he was even from six feet away. "Yeah, that's definitely a something not a someone."

"It was in my head," Adam said. He wore a haunted expression. "It was trying to get me to do things, like walk toward it or hurt Blue – until Blue put up her shields. I don't think I would have gotten out of there alive if she wasn't there." He pointed at his drawing. "If it could do this to Cabeswater, I have no doubt that it could have done far worse to me."

"Adam," Ronan said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, "did you see my mother?"

Blue and Adam both shook their heads.

Gansey clapped his hands suddenly, making them all jump and look at him. "If Cabeswater and everything in it is at risk because of this... whatever it is, then I guess we have to figure out how to stop it." He looked every bit the fearless leader, and no one could do anything but readily agree.

*

A few days later, Blue had something bordering on a plan. "Thank you for agreeing to meet me," Blue said professionally. She hopped up on a round stool and folded her hands neatly in front of her.

The Gray Man looked amused. "You're welcome," he said, equally professionally. "How've you been, Blue?"

Blue shrugged. "I have to admit, I've been better. I don't know how much I need your specific brand of expertise, but I needed a neutral third party and you came to mind." She nodded at his all gray clothes. If there was anyone who embodied neutral better than Mr. Gray, Blue didn't know them. "But before we start, I have to ask: is it okay if I talk about my father?"

Mr. Gray's face didn't change. Like, at all. Like, as in not one single muscle in his entire face twitched at Blue's question. It was really darned impressive. After all this Glendower stuff was over and assuming they all made it out alive, Blue was going to have him teach her his poker face. "You can talk about whatever you want, Blue. Your relationship with your father doesn't bother me."

"Only his relationship with my mother," Blue noted wisely. Again, The Gray Man's face didn't move at all. Really impressive.

"Can I buy you a tuna fish sandwich?" Mr. Gray asked, skillfully avoiding the issue.

Blue scrunched up her nose. "No, thank you."

"I don't think this place has yogurt." Mr. Gray signaled the waitress and ordered one sandwich and two Cokes. When the order came, Mr. Gray slid the second glass over to Blue and stuck a straw in the glass. "Drink your soda."

She did, even though she didn't really like soda. "Are you and my mother still… whatever? It's okay if you guys broke up. Obviously, if it was really nasty, I'm obligated to take my mother's side, but I don't think either of you are the type."

The Gray Man nearly choked on his tuna sandwich. He didn't because he was too careful for that kind of thing, but it was the closest Blue had ever come to knocking him balance. She was weirdly proud of herself. "As far as I know, your mother and I are still on, for whatever definition of on we ever were." Blue raised an eyebrow and Mr. Gray sighed. "No, she hasn't dumped me."

"Good!" Blue said. "Artemus and I are starting to get along okay, but just between you and me, even if he turns out to be all right, I don't think he'll be sticking around too long. Also, the holidays are coming up and I won't even be here for Thanksgiving. Though it's not like Mom will be alone because I don't think anyone's ever alone in my house."

Mr. Gray chuckled and shook his head. "There's no denying that."

"But if she was ever looking for some time without any daughterly interference, she'd have a lot then." If Blue had been talking about anyone other than her mother, at this point, she would have waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Blue, did you bring me here to play matchmaker between me and your mom? Because I promise we're doing totally fine in that department."

Blue shook her head. "Not just that. I really was looking for some outsider advice."

"Can't get more outsider than me," Mr. Gray said, dabbing at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "Shoot."

Blue dug through her backpack until she found the circle drawing her father had made, complete with the stick figure of the pregnant lady. Mr. Gray narrowed his eyes at the doodle.

"Blue, is there something you want to tell me?" He tapped on the pregnant belly.

"Oh! Oh no," Blue said, laughing. "Do you really think I'd tell you I was a teen pregnancy statistic through a series of cartoons? I wanted to talk about the circle." Blue went on to explain her father's time theory and how everything that's happened before will happen again. She told him about the last trip she and Adam had made to Cabeswater, and how she had the distinct feeling that their time (at least on this part of the timeline) was growing short. Throughout her explanation, Mr. Gray looked thoughtful.

"That's a lot," Mr. Gray said finally. "Let me think about it for a while and see if I can come up with any workable solutions for you."

Blue never got over how a former hitman and collector of supernatural items could sound so much like a regular businessman, but she appreciated how calm he stayed no matter how crazy this all must have sounded. Just then, the little restaurant's bell jangled merrily. Neither Blue nor The Gray Man paid any attention to it.

"Hi there, Dean," a woman said. Her voice sounded amused, and she laughed throatily when Mr. Gray spun around at the sound of his real name.

"Oh my God," Blue said.

There stood Piper Greenmantle, very much not dead. In fact, she looked terrific. In fact, if Blue squinted, she could almost swear Piper was _glowing_.

"Little girl!" Piper greeted her in a friendly voice. "Dean, I know you well enough from Colin's stories and I know you've been wrapped up in some very naughty stuff, but I never took you for someone who liked corrupting teenage girls."

Mr. Gray glared and didn't dignify that with a response. Neither did Blue, as much as she wanted to.

"But it's good that you're here for her," Piper went on. She took two steps toward them, reaching out to pat Blue's hand. Blue recoiled and Piper pouted. "Aw. I wanted to help, too. You see, the little girl just lost an aunt."

"Persephone wasn't my aunt," Blue said. "Not really, at least."

"Persa-who? I don't know anyone by that name – what is with this town and stupid names? Anyway, I meant Neeve. Another stupid name, kind of fat, pretty hands? Yeah, she's dead."

Blue hadn't seen Neeve in months, not since she disappeared thanks to her mother, Calla, and Persephone messing up her mirror magic. She hadn't even been sure Neeve was still alive, so why did knowing she was dead make her so sad?

"Yeah," Piper explained, "a friend of mine had been asleep for a really, _really_ long time, like not a restful week in the Bahamas long time, more like Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow long time, and man, he was _famished_. So he ate her." She shrugged. "I'm just glad it wasn't me. But he was pretty thankful that I woke him up." Piper smiled widely; to Blue, it looked like she had way too many teeth.

"Blue," Mr. Gray said evenly, "run."

Blue hopped off the stool and ran for the door. From somewhere inside his jacket, The Gray Man pulled a gun, which Piper grabbed easily and bent in half.

"Mr. Gray!" Blue shouted, holding open the door. "This way!" She hustled them both out onto the street and away from the little restaurant. There were innocent people in there and Blue had no doubt that Piper would do away with them without a second thought. And the Piper thing with too many teeth took the bait, following Blue and Mr. Gray out into the street.

Blue grabbed Mr. Gray and put up all of the defenses she could muster. She could feel Piper and whatever thing possessed her trying to steal her power and it was making her weak even as she kept thinking, "I am a mirror, I am a mirror, I am a mirror."

Piper stalked them slowly, the scary predatory grin growing wider and more otherworldly the closer she came. "Come on, Blue," Mr. Gray said suddenly. "You can do this. You just told me you did this. This is your thing!"

Blue nodded and focused all her energy on the Piper-thing. "I am a mirror, I am a mirror, I am a mirror," she muttered. A bright white ball of energy shimmered and surrounded them; Blue, if she reached out her mind, could feel exactly how far it extended, the size and shape of it. Piper tapped on the outside of it, tried pushing her way in, and failed.

She shrugged easily. "Later, losers," Piper said, bored, and started to walk away.

Blue and The Gray Man stared at each other and then exhaled in unison.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that was very, very bad," Mr. Gray said.

*

Gansey mouthed something but Blue couldn't make it out.

"What?" she shouted. It was hard to hear him over the whirring of Helen's helicopter. He mimicked putting headphones on. "Oh, right." Blue put on her headset.

"I _said_ I still don't like this."

"Well, what are we going to do from here?" Blue asked. "It's not like sitting around Monmouth is any more conducive to figuring out this sleeper and Piper thing than sitting around your parents' house."

"But she tried _hurting_ you," Gansey said. He stuck a mint leaf in his mouth and chewed it forcefully.

"Gansey, she's right," Adam said over the shared headsets. "Plus, how would it look if after making a bunch of plans, we all suddenly dropped out of Thanksgiving?"

"It would look like we're all on drugs," Ronan piped up. "Like a drug cult."

Helen climbed through the door and put her own headset on just in time to hear that last part. "What drug cult? Are you starting a drug cult? Dick, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Why are we taking the helicopter anyway?" Gansey asked, ignoring all unseemly drug cult talk. "Even if Mom and Dad didn't want me driving the Pig home, I could have easily fit everyone in the Suburban. This is a little over the top."

"Says the high school senior who has two cars of his own," Blue muttered, forgetting about the headset.

Gansey frowned a little, but Adam laughed. "Wait till you get a load of the rest of the Gansey family cars," he warned.

"Mom and Dad wanted to guarantee your safe arrival," Helen said. "I don't know why I was suddenly roped into this, but I'm guessing it's because of that thing where you've been ignoring Mom's calls and requests for appearances at her campaign stops. It's nice that I'm finally the good kid."

"Ooooh," Ronan said in a fake-scandalized voice. "Gansey's in trouuuuble."

"Oh, I am not," Gansey said, but his frowned remained. Maybe he really was worried about the possibility. Blue hadn't known that he'd been ignoring his parents. As far as she could tell, they'd been indulgently supportive of his Glendower quest up to this point. "Well, if I require an escort home, I might as well have a prompt arrival. Let's get going, Helen."

Helen saluted sarcastically, but she climbed into the pilot's seat.

To Blue's surprise, Gansey squeezed onto the back bench with Blue and Ronan while Adam climbed into the front seat next to Helen. She remembered something about Helen calling Adam cute, but she didn't think that really meant anything. Helen was a few years older than Gansey, an actual adult as opposed to a prematurely aged teenager pretending to be one, and possibly the most glamorous woman Blue had ever seen in real life. She caught Ronan scowling as she buckled her seatbelt, but Ronan also scowled an awful lot, so she didn't know if that really meant anything either.

Gansey turned to Blue and mouthed _Are you scared?_ for no one other than her. She shook her head, but still relaxed when Gansey's reached over and quickly squeezed her hand. He stared straight ahead while he did it, and once he'd let go, he wiggled that hand between their seats until the back of his hand pressed against her thigh. 

Blue suddenly realized that she'd be staying in Gansey's huge house, overnight, for more than one night, and Gansey would be there, too. Just the thought of it made Blue's heart beat faster.

Gansey didn't move his hand the entire trip.

*

"These people do realize that Thanksgiving is tomorrow, right?" Blue asked. She clutched a cranberry spritzer in one hand and stared out at the crowd in Gansey's house. "Like, who has time for this the day before a major holiday?"

"Rich people," Adam said, sipping from his own drink. He looked rather dapper in the only good suit he owned and a new tie. Blue thought he might have borrowed it from Gansey. If Blue didn't know he was Henrietta born and bred, she wouldn't have thought twice about lumping him in with the rest of the crowd. "Think about it; what does your family do the day before Thanksgiving?"

"Lots of cooking," Blue answered immediately. "Everyone's always bustling around and fighting for oven space. My mother makes about ten pies."

"And how many of the people at this party do you think cook their own Thanksgiving meals?"

Blue surveyed the crowd. "Probably zero."

Adam tipped his glass at her. "There's your answer."

"What's your answer?" Gansey piped up from somewhere above them. He and Ronan were descending one of the elegant double staircases that were the showpiece of the Ganseys' front hall. Gansey blended in even better than Adam did, and Ronan looked handsome, too, even if he was tugging at the knot of his tie. At Aglionby all of the boys had to wear ties, but now that Blue thought about it, she didn't think she'd ever seen Ronan's done up properly. But even if he was treating it like a noose, he still looked refined and stylish. Blue felt underdressed by comparison.

She was wearing her fanciest outfit – a black lace shift she'd found on clearance worn over a dark green minidress – and shoes with small heels that she'd borrowed from Maura. Blue thought she looked okay, but then Helen popped into the guest room Blue was in. Helen gave her a once over, tilted her head, and then made her put on lipstick she retrieved from somewhere on her person. What Helen did wasn't meant to be mean, Blue knew this, but it emphasized the difference between _her_ and _them_. Blue pressed her lips together, finding the waxy texture strange and unwelcome. And it kept getting on her glass.

"How do girls do this?" she muttered to herself.

"Do what?" Gansey asked, suddenly at her side. Blue looked up and over at him. He was smiling at her and standing as close as he could without actually touching her.

"Wear lipstick. Your sister gave me some, but I'm not used to it. Orla offers sometimes but I always dodge her."

"Well, I can't say that's my area of expertise, but it looks very nice," Gansey said. He dropped his voice to a low murmur, only for her. "Of course, I also like how you look without it. It's win-win in my eyes."

Blue smiled, despite herself.

"I'm going to show Jane around," Gansey told Adam and Ronan. "She's the only one who's never been here before."

Adam nodded and Ronan said, "You do that. I'm going to get free booze."

Gansey rolled his eyes, but said nothing, offering his elbow to Blue to escort her around the party. He moved fluidly, introducing Blue to his mother's friends and campaign contributors. The adults all had impressive titles, like Congressman and CEO of Rich People, Inc., and Gansey always called her Miss Blue Sargent. It was infuriating and fascinating how easily Gansey fit in with these people. Even knowing that there were more Ganseys than the born-with-a-silver-spoon one only offered some comfort.

Still, he never let any conversation go on long, and he always made sure Blue felt included. Before long, Blue actually found that she was enjoying herself and somewhere after what felt like the fiftieth introduction, she found Gansey ushering her to a part of the house with no guests.

"Whew," Gansey said. He grinned at her. "Kind of a whirlwind, eh?"

"What do you mean? This is a perfectly normal day for me," Blue said. She walked around the room, examining framed pictures of Gansey's parents when they were younger and diaper-clad babies smiling goofily for the camera. "Which one are you?"

"The fat one," Gansey said, coming over and pointing to the chubbier of the two babies. "My mother says I looked like I could have eaten Helen at the same age. It's a good thing we aren't twins."

"She should really watch out if you two ever find yourself in a Donner Party situation." Blue felt Gansey move a lock of hair off her neck. She shivered when he lightly brushed his fingers against her skin.

"You look lovely tonight, Jane," Gansey said, his mouth so close to her ear that she could feel his warm breath against it. "Thank you for coming. I would have gone crazy without you for five days."

Blue spun around, even though that brought them face-to-face and alone and she knew this was dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. "I'm glad I came, too," she said. She couldn't bring herself to say that she wouldn't know what to do without him for five days, especially because the memory of his spirit in the cemetery always hovered threateningly in the back of her head. Five days? If they couldn't get a favor from Glendower or find some other way to fix things soon, she'd have to live the rest of her life without him. "Maybe by the time we leave, I'll have seen a quarter of the house."

Gansey looked worried. "It's a little much, isn't it? I don't need all this. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do." She hadn't always. But she did now. "Gansey –"

"Dick?" a new voice interrupted. Both Blue and Gansey whirled around guiltily and faced the doorway.

"Oh, hi, Mom," Gansey said, looking visibly relieved. "I was just giving Blue the grand tour."

"He was a very cute baby," Blue confirmed.

Mrs. Gansey smiled kindly. "I certainly think so. Blue, dear, can you give Dick and me a few moments alone?"

"Oh!" Blue nodded profusely. "Of course. I have to go to the bathroom anyway. See you in a few minutes, Gansey."

Blue went off in search of a bathroom, which took longer than she expected since she got lost in the labyrinthine corridors of the Gansey mansion. She was afraid of getting lost on the way back to the fat baby room, but the attendant outside the bathroom gave her directions. Blue tried ignoring the fact that Gansey was rich enough that his family hired bathroom attendants for parties, and nearly succeeded until it occurred to her that they might very well have a bathroom attendant _all the time_.

"No one does that, right?" Blue mumbled to herself, skidding to a halt when she heard raised voices from the study. They were unfailingly polite voices, but loud ones, the argument equivalent of _you go first; no, you go first, I insist_.

"You don't know her at all," Gansey was saying. "I don't like what you're implying."

"Lower your voice, dear," Mrs. Gansey replied.

"I won't! How dare you make assumptions about strangers?" Gansey was livid, and Blue had a sinking feeling that they were talking about her.

Mrs. Gansey sighed. "Richard, she's a perfectly lovely girl, and I'm sure you have lots of fun together. I'm not trying to begrudge you that; I was young once, too, after all! And I had friends from all walks of life. but there came a time when I had to accept that I already had my place in the world, and some of my acquaintances couldn't be part of that."

"Maybe _you're_ the one who isn't part of my world," Gansey said. "Did that ever occur to you?"

"Yes, it did," Mrs. Gansey said. "And that's what I'm trying to prevent. You have certain responsibilities and the people you associate with have to be on your level. If you keep slumming –"

" _Slumming_? Ugh, Mother, I can't talk to you anymore. This campaign is ruining you." Blue flattened herself against the wall when she heard Gansey's feet stomping toward her, but she didn't move fast enough. Gansey's face fell when he spotted Blue trying to turn herself invisible. "Jane," he said mournfully.

"It's okay," Blue began, but Gansey put his finger to his lips and grabbed her around the wrist, pulling her away from the study. They walked until they came to a bustling kitchen, all of the staff working to get hors d'oeuvres onto platters, or sweating over saucepans. No one was wearing a million dollars in diamonds and the room was painted a bright, cheery yellow. This was way more Blue's speed.

"I'm sorry you had to hear any of that," Gansey said. "My mother is a perfectly lovely woman, but her worldview can be rather myopic. Which of course is why she's running for office! She'll fit in terrifically." He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up completely. It made Blue's heart flip-flop, and it fipped back the other way when Gansey grabbed both of her hands in his. "I hope you already know, but I have to say it out loud – she in no way reflects my beliefs about you. We might as well be on two separate planets."

Blue pulled her hands away from Gansey's and pressed her palm to his cheek. "I know that. How could I not?"

"Gansey! Blue!"

They jumped apart quickly.

Adam and Ronan stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Adam's cheeks were red and he looked rumpled and breathless. Ronan's tie no longer held its neat knot.

"I can explain," Gansey said.

"Explain what?" Adam said, looking confused. "Never mind. Cabeswater is sending me dire messages. I've seen about ten ghosts or spirits or whatever you want to call them. Whatever's going on there, we have to figure out how to fix it _now_." He was speaking so quickly that he was tripping over his words and his Henrietta accent had dialed itself up to eleven.

Gansey looked at Blue. "What do you say we blow off the rest of this party?"

"Sounds good to me," Blue agreed.

"On a scale of one to haha you're already dead, how mad will Helen get if I steal her helicopter?" Gansey asked. Adam and Blue both looked pained at his words, but Ronan grinned.

"We should just hotwire one of your dad's cars instead," Ronan said.

*

Blue could tell Gansey was trying not to I-told-you-so Blue and Adam as they raced back to Henrietta. He hadn't wanted to leave in the first place and now he'd gotten his way. Blue ignored him pointedly, but she didn't think Adam was even paying attention. On their way out, Adam lifted a full glass of red wine – "a 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet. Very rare," Gansey said to no one's interest – and Ronan had lifted Richard Campbell Gansey II's silver Porsche 918 Spyder, which didn't have so much of a backseat as a suggestion of a backseat. Blue and Gansey squeezed back there as best they could, Blue's short legs overlapping Gansey's long ones. She didn't mind.

"Please don't spill that," Gansey said to Adam, leaning over Blue and to poke his head in between Adam and Ronan's seats, because he was okay with running out of family holidays and stealing – "borrowing," said Gansey – cars, but not so okay with ruining beautiful upholstery. Adam, still, didn't seem to be paying any attention.

Adam scryed with Cabeswater for a while, then started giving Ronan directions, carelessly flinging the very rare Cabernet out the window.

"I guess you don't have to worry about it spilling now," Blue said.

Gansey closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

As they got closer to home, Adam sat up straight in the passenger seat and started looking more anxious. "Can't you drive any faster?" he asked Ronan.

"I can," Ronan said, "but I don't think you want us thrown in jail after we get pulled over."

"We did steal a car," Blue agreed.

"Borrowed!" Gansey said desperately.

Adam didn't answer, which was his way of admitting Ronan was right. They eventually pulled over on the side of the highway about six miles out of town.

"This is it," Adam said, hopping out. There were no streetlamps on this stretch of highway, so the other three had to make sure to keep up, otherwise Adam would be swallowed up by the darkness. When they caught him, he was turning over stones and rearranging sticks into triangles. Adam directed them to do their own fixes, the most troublesome one happening when Adam needed Ronan to boost him into a tree to untangle some dead branches.

This never got less weird for Blue, but after there was no stone left unturned, Adam sighed deeply and looked preternaturally calm.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay?" Gansey asked.

Adam nodded. "Cabeswater can siphon power off of this for a while. It should buy us some time." He smiled at everyone. "Thanks for putting up with my craziness, guys."

"Don't insult crazy people like that, Parrish," Ronan said, but he flung his arm over Adam's shoulders and the two of them companionably walked back to the car.

"I'll never get them," Blue said, and Gansey nodded in agreement. They started walking back to the car, too, the _crunch crunch crunch_ of late autumn leaves underfoot.

"Well, Jane, what do you plan to do with the rest of your break?"

Blue shrugged. "I guess I'll go home. My mom will be pissed I left most of my stuff at your parents' house."

Gansey laughed. "I'll get them to send it here." Just as the words were out of his mouth, Gansey's phone rang. "Speaking of," he said, and answered it. "Hello, Helen, how are you?"

Through the earpiece, Blue could hear Helen laughing and laughing and then trying to talk through her laughter.

"Well, tell dad he can send the helicopter to pick up the Porsche if he misses it so much." Gansey paused. "No, we're not coming back." He paused again. "No, I don't believe there are any prizes for being the favorite child. _I_ never received one, at least." Helen started laughing and talking again. "Thank you for thinking I'm entitled to a teenage rebellion! Happy Thanksgiving, Helen. I'll see you at Christmas." And then Gansey hung up.

"So they're not sending the police after us?" Blue asked.

Gansey shook his head. "We've escaped the long arm of the law this time. I suppose every good child gets one chance to disappoint their parents."

"I've heard that," Blue murmured.

"Hurry up, asses!" Ronan shouted. "It's cold as shit out here!"

"That sounds like a medical problem," Blue could hear Adam saying.

Gansey and Blue rushed back to the car and climbed back into the tiny backseat.

"Where to, shorty?" Ronan asked her as they started driving back into town.

Blue shrugged. "Home, I guess. It's kind of late, but someone will be up."

"You could always stay at Monmouth for the weekend," Gansey offered. "Noah has a room, but he doesn't sleep, which seems like a waste of a bed."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Blue said. But she reached over and laced her fingers with Gansey's. No one could see that in the cover of dark. "Just take me home, Ronan."

*

Maura was digging into a sweet potato pie when Blue walked into the house. "Blue, what are you doing home?" she said, sounding concerned. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything's good." Blue dropped her keys onto the kitchen table and sat down at the table, propping her chin up with her hand. "We're all fine, nothing terrible happened. We stole a car."

"I knew you'd turn to grand theft auto eventually," Maura sighed. "Pie?"

"No, thank you," Blue said, scooting her chair over so she could rest her head on her mother's shoulder. "I'm glad we came home. I'm glad my home still feels like home," she said, thinking of Gansey's argument with his mother.

Maura reached over and petted Blue's hair. "Sometimes a house is just a house. But the nice thing about homes is you can make your own. Heck, you can even make a new one when you already have a nice one."

Blue thought about 300 Fox Way, and her raven boys, and realized how true that was.

*

A few days later, Blue walked into the house after work and heard Calla yelling. This wasn't a terribly odd occurrence, but the male voice answering was. Blue sighed because she recognized the answering voice as Ronan. 

Why was Ronan in her house? Why were Ronan and Calla arguing? Well, the fact of the first question led to an easy answer for the second, but that still didn't explain why he was there in the first place. And hearing Adam saying, "Ronan, calm _down_ " in a firm but still raised voice didn't really explain anything more. Blue was at least certain that _she_ hadn't invited them over. She wandered into the reading room.

To her continued surprise, Adam was sitting in Persephone's old spot at the reading table, her cards spread out in front of him. Blue didn't share her mother's psychic gifts, but she'd grown up around tarot and she could tell his cards weren't in agreement with Maura's and Calla's, even if they had been drawn from Persephone's deck. 

"What's going on, guys?" Blue asked, still peering around the doorway. Calla and Ronan were standing close together and face-to-face. If she hadn't seen this scene half a dozen times before, she would have thought they were about to have a fistfight. Blue's money was on Calla.

Adam shrugged and gestured at his cards. "A tryout, I guess. Persephone said something to me before she – before. About how she thought I might be able to stand in for your mother while she was away, so I thought I might be able to help out now. Something about how two is unstable but three is better."

"And it might have gone fine," Maura said, "only..." She gestured at Calla and Ronan's tableau. Ronan had his hands balled into fists at his sides and he was clenching them hard. Blue's money was still on Calla.

"Only this one is thinking too loudly," Calla said. "It's influencing the other one's reading." Sure enough, Adam's cards were the Magician, the Page of Pentacles, which was a card for dreams, and The Empress, which represented nature. Blue guessed that was Adam, Ronan, and Cabeswater. Adam sighed and flipped another card: The Page of Cups. "Oh great!" Calla exclaimed. "Now Blue's in on it, too."

Adam shook his head. "My apologies, ma'am," he said in his softest Southern accent. "It looks like my mind is in other places."

"It's okay, Adam," Maura said, patting his shoulder. "I feel like the house would fight a constant male presence anyway."

"What she means is we're not really dude friendly," Blue said.

"No fucking kidding," Ronan snarled.

"Down, boy," Adam said. Ronan made a face at him but stepped away from Calla and stomped down the hallway and out of the house.

Blue stared after him. "Should we go get him?"

Adam shook his head. "He just needs to blow off steam. Can I talk to you for a minute, though?"

"Sure," Blue said with a shrug. They stepped out of the reading room and into the living room. Blue shook her head at the door Ronan had left wide open on his way out. "What the hell is with him and doors?"

"Raised in a barn," Adam said, and Blue wondered if the reason she and Adam hadn't worked out was because they were too similar. Or maybe they were just too similar in the wrong ways. "Do you want me to close that?" 

Blue shook her head. "We'll make him do it when he comes back."

"Okay," Adam said. "Anyway, Ronan's not going to like me telling you this, but he hasn't been sleeping well. Or, at all."

"He told you that?" Blue asked with raised eyebrows.

Adam ignored this and went on, "Now I know Gansey and Ronan used to be the insomnia twins, but that sort of went away once Ronan got a better hold on all the Greywaren stuff. Now, though, I don't know. I think he's afraid to close his eyes."

"Ronan Lynch, afraid?" Blue snorted. "Now I _know_ he didn't tell you that."

"Nope. I just can tell," Adam said. "And I know he's worried about his mother. He went back alone, even though Gansey and I told him not to do that, and he couldn't find her. It might not be a big deal, but Aurora's a dream thing. Who knows what the sleeper can do to them?"

What happened to dreams when you weren't dreaming them? Blue knew she'd asked herself that before.

"Also, I just want to remind you that it's now December."

"I know that, Adam." Nino's was now decorated in tacky cardboard Santas and all the waitresses had to come in for a special shift where they strung up garland and decorated the world's oldest artificial tree. They also started their annual pool for how long it would take an Aglionby boy to mess up all the decorations. Bored and privileged kids seemed to take decorating as a personal affront. And even 300 Fox Way had put up their mish-mash of Chrismukkahpluskwanzaa decorations they'd collected on a whim over the years. Nutcracker Jesus was Blue's favorite. "So what? Did you want to do a Secret Santa or something?"

"Blue, when does St. Mark's Eve happen?"

"April," Blue answered immediately, and then understood what Adam was getting at. Once the new year rolled around, April would be right around the corner. 

"Gansey's time is running out," Adam said, voicing Blue's thoughts out loud. "If we don't figure out something fast, Gansey will be dead in five months. You know this, Blue! You saw his spirit walking on the corpse road with your own eyes and he told you his name. I think this is Cabeswater's way of telling us to get a move on."

"Jane saw me on the corpse road?" said a voice faintly from the doorway. Blue and Adam, wearing matching horrified expressions, turned around. "Sorry, the door was open," Gansey added, stumbling into Blue's living room. He flopped into an oversized armchair and blinked at them quizzically. "Did I hear Adam correctly?" he asked Blue.

Blue swallowed hard. This was her chance to mitigate the damage. She didn't want him doing anything rash now that he knew. Sure, he misheard. Yes, of course he was destined to live a long life, full of searching for dead kings that grant wishes. But Blue's face had already given away the whole thing, and even if it hadn't, a glance at Adam's would have done the same.

"This explains a lot," Gansey said calmly. He rubbed his thumb back and forth across his lower lip. "Do you know how it happens? A car accident, another bee sting? Is someone going to shoot me like Jesse Dittley? Did you know that he was going to die, too? How about Kavinsky? Whelk?" Gansey's questions started coming faster and faster, and he seemed to have forgotten Adam was even in the room. "Is this why you're so convinced your curse is true? Did you know if you kiss me that I'll die? Is that why we're together, but not _together_ together, Blue?" 

The only thing Blue could say was, "Gansey, I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you."

Gansey crossed his legs and waved his hand dismissively, not meeting her eyes. He looked like a bored king making all his subjects leave his court.

Blue exchanged a glance with Adam, who looked stricken in his own way. "I didn't know you two were together," he said softly. Blue's stomach dropped. "If not _together_ together, whatever that means. I should... I should probably find Ronan." And then Adam stumbled out the door. Great. Blue finally took the hint and closed it behind him.

"My mom told me not to tell you," Blue said, standing over Gansey. "Not that you should blame her, either; it was my decision to go along with it. But sometimes when young people know they're going to..." Blue took a deep breath. "When they know they're going to die, they get reckless. And you're already sort of reckless."

"Everyone has the capacity for recklessness," Gansey said, staring at a point somewhere beyond Blue. He looked up suddenly, meeting her eyes. "Why did you see me? I mean, I know you're not like the rest of your family. So why could you see my, what did you say? My spirit."

This conversation was already deeply uncomfortable and she had to make it more uncomfortable. She felt like a doctor telling someone they had a terminal diagnosis. "Neeve told me that someone without the sight only sees a spirit on the corpse road if they're going to kill them or if they're your true love."

Gansey blinked. "Which one is it?"

Blue smiled a little. "I don't plan on killing you, Gansey." She left it at that.

The doorbell rang then, making them both jump. Blue answered her door, finding Adam and Ronan waiting there. "I'm not mad," Adam said, first thing. "I was just surprised. But I had to come back and tell you that so you wouldn't think I'm mad. Also, I forgot all of my stuff." He smiled crookedly and walked back to the reading room.

"Parrish is a fucking weirdo," Ronan muttered under his breath.

"Aren't we all?" Gansey asked. He looked a little more his normal self, looking from Blue to Ronan, then back to Blue again as if asking for confirmation. Was Gansey the last to know? Blue shook her head a tiny bit and Gansey sagged, possibly in relief. Blue felt terrible. Hiding this huge secret from him – she had her reasons, but now that Gansey knew, those reasons seemed so small and stupid. There was no reason for her to have something so huge over him.

"That was bizarre," Adam said, shifting his bookbag up onto his shoulders.

"What was?" Blue asked.

"Gwenllian is sitting in Persephone's seat. She was doing a reading with Calla's cards." Adam shrugged. "Your mom and Calla seemed pretty happy about it. Even Gwenllian looked happy."

In a way that made sense. Gwenllian had the same amplification powers Blue had, but she also knew so many things Blue had only just begun to understand. Maybe she'd be a natural with the cards, too. Maybe that was why they found her in Jesse Dittley's cave. Maybe everything happened for a reason.

But if that was true, why the hell did Gansey have to die?

"Can we go, Parrish?" Ronan asked loudly. He nodded at Blue and Gansey. "These two are being as weird as you."

"See you at home, Ronan," Gansey said. He sighed deeply once Adam and Ronan had gone. "Ronan's not going to like this. He'll probably punch something."

Blue knew Gansey was right. "I don't think he can punch this one away."

Gansey snorted. "Like that ever stopped him. Jane, please stop looming over me like that. It's making me nervous."

"What should I do then?"

Gansey reached out and tugged Blue by her hand, pulling her until she tumbled into his lap. She looked at him with surprise, her heart threatening to thud right out of her chest. "You're right, by the way," he murmured. Gansey raised Blue's fingers to his lips and kissed each one. Blue shivered. "I'm feeling reckless right now."

"Are you mad?" Blue asked.

He shook his head. "Scared," he admitted.

Blue leaned down and pressed her forehead to his. "Me too."

*

Blue called Adam that night.

"I'm always surprised when my phone rings," Adam told her. "No one really ever calls here."

"Well, I did call for a reason," Blue said, "but I also really wanted to make sure that you were all right. That we were." She held up her hand for Orla, who'd just come into the hallway and mouthed, "Five minutes." Orla nodded and left.

Adam said, "I'm fine, Blue. I really meant what I said. I just haven't gotten to the point where I know how to deal with surprises yet." He paused for a moment. "Sometimes I still don't believe that you're all just going to up and leave."

"We're not."

"I know," Adam said. "I know it, but I don't _know_ it. I will someday. But because of that I worry any time anything changes because I don't know if we'll get what we have back."

Blue shook her head and switched the phone to her other ear. "I think we're all stuck with each other now, no matter what happens between me and you, or me and Gansey, or you and... anyone else."

Adam laughed softly. "I suppose you're right. What else did you have to tell me?"

"Well," Blue began, "do you think time travel is possible?"

"Hmm," Adam said. "Considering I sacrificed myself to a magical forest and your father worked for a king of Wales hundreds of years ago, I'd say it's not beyond the realm of possibility."

"Then do you have any ideas about how we can make it work for us? My dad seems to think he's met us all before, if that helps at all."

Adam was quiet. "Let me think about it," he said after a moment.

*

When Blue arrived at Monmouth a couple of days later, Adam already had a bunch of papers spread out all over Gansey's bed.

"You didn't start without me, did you?" she asked him, worried. Even now, Blue still hated to be left out of the Aglionby boys' plans. But Adam shook his head. 

"Why would we do that?" Adam asked. "We need you." He said it so simply, just a statement of fact, but it still made Blue feel warm all over.

Noah came up next to Blue, and she could feel him there before she could see him. He was pulling energy from her, so it was probably good she had that extra warmth spilling over. "Hey, what's this all about?" Noah asked.

"Did Gansey tell you what he found out?"

Noah shook his head. "But I already knew."

Blue didn't want to know how he knew. There were already too many reminders about him not being alive, and now with Gansey's possible death looming over them, more real than ever, Noah's strange abilities were even more disconcerting. She settled for resting her head on his shoulder, glad that Adam had strengthened the ley line enough that he hardly ever shimmered out of existence unless he wanted to.

Ronan and Gansey came out of their kitchen/bathroom combination room-thing looking more intense than any two young guys emerging from a combination kitchen/bathroom ever should. Blue knew from the serious look Ronan shot her that Gansey had let him in on the secret. The walls didn't seem to have any new holes, so maybe he'd channeled his energy more constructively. For all of Ronan's flaws, he really did seem like a better person now than when they first met. 

Or maybe he'd always been this person and she just knew him now.

"Okay," Adam said, looking around the room. "I've been thinking about everything, and I think our problem is that we're thinking of everything as separate issues, when it's far more likely that everything is connected. There's your father, Blue, who worked for Glendower, who's still asleep. Then there's Cabeswater, where the third sleeper is awake and destroying everything and showing up in Ronan's dreams, even though he can't do anything about it. Then there's Piper, who's either possessed by the sleeper or working for it. And then there's Gansey, who. Who's going to."

"Die," Gansey supplied. "I'm going to die unless everything is fixed." He shook his head and looked around at the room, focusing on his cardboard model of Henrietta. "This never would have happened if I wasn't so obsessed."

"Shut up, Gansey."

Everyone turned and looked at Blue. Even Blue seemed surprised at her words, but she took a deep breath and stood up as tall as her five feet allowed her to.

"No one's blaming you for this," Blue said. "If anything, this started way before we were born. It started with weird Welsh people bringing their king over an ocean, or it started with Noah getting his face smashed in. Or it started when Artemus knocked up my mom. You didn't choose to be saved by the ley line, you know? So don't pity yourself."

"Yeah," Ronan piped up. "It's a terrible look for you, dude."

Adam cleared his throat. "Anyway, I have an idea, but no one's going to like it. I'm just warning you about that before I go into detail. So, do you still want to hear it?"

Gansey pulled a mint leaf out of his jacket pocket and chewed it thoughtfully, looking from each of them to the next. Finally, he said, "Let's hear it. Whatever it is, it wasn't likely to be fun, and if there's any chance that I can save the rest of you and maybe even save myself, then I want to try. Glendower granted me a favor for a reason." He settled his gaze on Adam. "Let's hear your plan."

*

"Do we all know what we're doing?" Adam asked. The five of them were gathered around the Pig, looking varying degrees of worried and determined. They all nodded.

"I can't believe you made us go to school today," Ronan grumbled. He'd taken off his Aglionby tie and sweater, but was still wearing his button-down shirt, open over a white tank top.

"If Blue's father is right, then we're not going to be gone long," Gansey reminded him. He was still wearing his whole uniform. Adam, too. "At least not from the present day's point of view. And you're already skating on thin ice with the administration."

"Do you think I'll be able to grow a full beard before we get back?" Ronan asked. "I want to grow a full beard."

"No one cares about your beard, Ronan," Adam said.

Blue actually found herself in agreement with Ronan. She couldn't believe that Gansey and the rest of them had gone to school, either. Blue had been so nervous that she ditched after first period and spent the day making Noah distract her at Monmouth Manufacturing. The school probably called 300 Fox Way, but either they couldn't get through because Orla was taking calls or Blue would have to make up an excuse later. If they all lived, that was.

"I'm still not sure about this," Noah said. "I don't want what happened to me to happen to Gansey. Or any of you."

Gansey clapped Noah on the back. "I'll be fine. And if I'm not, we'll just haunt Ronan together forever. It'll be fun."

Blue knew he was making a joke, but no one laughed. Even Gansey's face was pretty grim.

Ronan shoved his hands deep into his jeans pockets. "Well, are we going to do this, or are we just going to stand around here forever having a mental circle jerk?" Then he stomped off to Cabeswater's edge without waiting for an answer.

"Ew," Blue said, but she ran to catch up with him. "Can you really do this?" she asked him.

"Maybe. Can you?"

Blue didn't answer and they kept walking together in silence. She could hear the other three following behind.

"I'm going to find your mother now, Ronan," Noah said, once they were deep enough in.

"She's going to fall asleep as soon as you're out of Cabeswater," Adam reminded him. "Try to get her somewhere safe, if you can, but if you can't, just hide. We'll be back as soon as you know it." His voice sounded light, but Blue could tell he didn't completely believe his words.

Noah nodded seriously and disappeared.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Ronan asked so quietly that Blue didn't even know if he meant to say it out loud. 

"Of course they will be," Gansey replied, always so sure of himself. Sometimes that really got on Blue's nerves, but in this case if was really reassuring. It was good to have someone with them so sure that everything was going to work out – or if he didn't really think everything was going to work out, at least he was good at convincing everyone else that they were. Blue had no idea what they were going to do without him if this didn't work, so she had to convince herself that it would.

Blue and Adam led them to the clearing where they'd originally found the inky blackness that turned out to be the sleeper. The copse of dead, dry trees still remained, including the crumbled one that had nearly crushed them. "This is the place," Adam told them, kneeling down and pulling supplies from his backpack.

Gansey nodded and looked serious. "So this is how we start." He sat in the middle of the clearing while Adam drew a pentagram around him. Adam put two candles, two bowls, and three chicken bones arranged in a triangle at each of the five corners of the pentagram, as Gansey cleared his throat again and again. Then Adam lit one of the candles and filled one of the bowls.

"Cabeswater, I'd like to offer you a deal," Gansey said. Ronan translated into Latin, shouting Gansey's words into the trees. "We know that there's a presence that threatens you. I offer myself as a sacrifice to lend you power to rid yourselves of this intrusion."

Ronan rolled his eyes at this mouthful. "Jeez, Gansey." He translated anyway, but it was a short sentence. Blue saw Adam smile and Gansey frown, so she suspected it wasn't a direct translation.

"Ronan," Gansey warned. Adam stared at Gansey and shook his head in amazement. Blue knew exactly what he was thinking. "If this is successful, my friends would like a boon. Please send all my trusted companions to the time when Glendower was put to sleep. We know you possess that power."

As soon as Gansey's words were out of Ronan's mouth, Blue could hear a buzz starting up. Gansey swallowed and looked scared, but determined. Blue could feel tears already starting at the corners of her eyes. She knew they could fix this, that was the whole plan. But what if they couldn't and this was the end. Her stomach was tied in knots and this sense of dread was welling up from her toes to the top of her head.

"Blue, come here," Gansey said, getting to his feet. 

"We can still stop this," Blue said. She could hear the buzzing of wasps growing louder, still far away, but growing ever closer. As Blue's tears started coming faster, the sky clouded over and they all started getting spattered with raindrops. Cabeswater, as ever, was able to turn her feelings into something that could change their whole world.

Gansey shook his head and smiled. "This is my whole purpose, you know this. Now, let's break that curse of yours." He stepped in closer and touched her cheeks with the back of his hand, leaning their foreheads together. "Okay, I'm ready," Gansey said, Blue's tears and the rain coming faster now. "Blue, kiss me."

Blue did. It was very much like the kisses in her dreams, only Adam and Ronan were also there, awkwardly looking anywhere but at them. Everything about this Gansey felt real and warm and only the sick, twisted feeling in her gut knowing why they were doing this made it any less than perfect. The buzzing had grown so loud that it was pushing any thoughts other than Gansey out of her head. She knew this wasn't how most people experienced their first and best love, and she hated that this was the way she had to.

"Blue, come on! It's time!" Adam shouted suddenly. Blue broke away from Gansey and ran off to hide away from Adam's pentagram with Gansey in the middle.

Gansey's fears had manifested in a cloud of wasps, but they weren't attacking him or even coming near him, just circling him with their deafening buzz. Off in the distance, Blue could see the real threat coming, a wave of black as thick as tar. Piper Greenmantle walked a foot ahead of the rising tide.

"The forest left us a present," Piper called over her shoulder. She was nearly skipping. A bright light of power shimmered in all directions when she walked through the cloud of wasps, untouched. The third sleeper, which had grown considerably since Blue had last seen it, slimed in after her. "You're pretty," Piper told Gansey, running her index finger underneath his chin and tilting his face up. "You sort of remind me of Colin before he got all crazy about his tiny little crow's feet. What's your name?"

"Gansey."

Piper shook her head. "What's with this place and the stupid fucking names?"

Gansey just replied, "That's all there is." Blue could see his chest rising and falling faster. His sweater was soaked through with Blue's rain.

"Okay, Gansey boy. Nice to meet you, I'm Piper, this is a hellspawn that wants to rule the world. Now we're all acquainted. It's a shame we have to eat you, but hey, there are tons of pretty rich boys in the world, aren't there?" Piper's too-many-teeth grin returned. "How's that saying go? Eat the rich! Then after this, we're going to kill all your friends, too."

The sleeper made a clicking sound and Piper laughed.

"Yeah, I don't get it, either," she told it. "It's not like this morsel is going to hold you over for long. Cabeswater's kind of dumb."

"What do you mean?" Gansey asked. His voice was little more than a rasp and he swallowed hard.

"Well, like, I guess there are magic rules and all, and the forest is used to people playing by them," she said. "But we're not playing _their_ game. We're taking over the world." She shrugged. "Oh well. Go ahead."

"No, wait –" Gansey said, but it was too late. The sleeper surrounded Gansey on all sides; Blue couldn't look and now she was crying so hard that she wouldn't have been able to see much even if she could bring herself to watch. She told herself that it was better that she couldn't hear anything, no screaming or anything else. Next to her, Adam and Ronan were arguing.

"I knew it wasn't going to work, I told you, I _told_ you," Ronan said, sounding as hysterical as she'd ever heard him before. She peeked at them.

Adam grabbed Ronan by the shoulders. "Just wait. I believe in you. Look."

Gansey's body lay alone in the middle of the clearing, still and lifeless. Ronan ran right over to him and knelt down, clearly on the verge of tears, and said, "Are you happy now, Adam? Is this what you wanted?"

Blue, shocked, looked past Adam. She was staring at the retreating sleeper and Piper.

"Everything's going to die now!" Ronan was saying. 

Blue tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. "Look."

Piper's face had turned a sick shade of pale and she was doubled over. "I don't feel good," Piper said. Then she and the sleeper crumbled into piles of dust. Blue's rain washed them both away.

"Do you guys know that old song Mr. Sandman?" Gansey asked, emerging from the woods. "Ronan brought us a dream."

Adam let out an insanely loud guffaw of laughter and threw his arms around Ronan, knocking them both to the ground. "I told you, I told you, Ronan!" Adam said. "I knew it would work. He was a perfect copy. You made a copy of you, you made a copy of the Pig. Of course you could make Gansey. You know Gansey as well as you know yourself." The clouds parted and a brilliant sun began shining through the tree branches.

"He wasn't a copy. He was a weapon," Ronan corrected, looking shocked. "I dreamt up a Gansey weapon."

"The real me isn't tough enough?" Gansey asked, letting out a small _oof_ when Blue hugged him. 

"I knew it wasn't you," Blue whispered, "but it was you. Ronan made you and we killed you."

"Does this mean you two can make out normally now?" Ronan asked.

"Does it mean you two can?" Blue shot back because she didn't know but she wanted Ronan to be right, and also because Adam was still clutching handfuls of Ronan's shirt. They broke apart at that, but didn't go far from each other.

Gansey looked from Blue to Ronan, then to Adam, and then back at Blue again. "You and Ronan are very alike, you know, Jane," Gansey said.

"Can we please leave the dead dream body now?" Adam asked. "It's morbid, us all chatting around your corpse. And we should try to find Noah and Aurora."

The four of them stood up and started walking, and walking, and walking, for far longer than it took for them to find the clearing. Winter turned colder, then turned to spring, to summer, to fall, then winter again. They finally tumbled out of the forest, or at least they think they did. Henrietta was overgrown with trees and vegetation, none of the farmland that surrounded Cabeswater before. Everything was quieter than Blue was used to; sounds were muted like when she sat under the huge beech tree in her backyard.

They all exchanged glances, and refused to voice their suspicions out loud.

Suddenly, a group of tired men appeared over the hill, dressed like a picture book of King Arthur's Round Table. Two carried flags with ravens embossed on them and another six held a box, roughly the size of an adult man. Blue recognized one. She swallowed hard. The men stopped in front of Blue's group and looked them up and down.

Artemus focused on Blue specifically. "Girl, why are you accompanying men alone? You look like the witches. What is your name?"

Blue looked at Gansey; Gansey looked back. It had worked. It had actually worked. Time really was a circle and they were so going to wake up Glendower next.

"Call me Jane," Blue said.


End file.
